However, it's not that simple. In the UK if you chose Telematics you get a free 6 months to BMW assist / Information plus.... all well and good.. but I want BMW online.

I rang up Customer services to sort it out... Well you can guess.. they said I should have ordered it when I booked my car. Well I might have if the dealer had mentioned this... It gets worse...

They then tell me that the reason it needs to be ordered at the time of booking is that when they build the car extra software is added to the car. While they admit this can be done later... it will cost!

Worse still, I have to pay £300 (480 Dollars) for the year, up front before they will activate it.

Well, spending that much money on someting I have never seen that may not work the way they describe, ( they freely admitt it may not work in all areas.. including where I am) seems crazy. You thnk they would allow a trial period..... But no.

Customer services advised me to go back to the dealer... which I did but they said they knew little about BMW Online... had sold none... and didn't expect to the way BMW handled it.

Even the BMW assist people said they had sold virtually none and even BMW's assist take up was very poor...

All this is totally crazy and makes a mockery of BMW's Customer services.